Ambulance District & Funeral Home
The history of 212 S. Weber goes back further than we had time do dig. The earliest memory anyone could give me was that the original home located here was a boarding house. When the Winklemeyer Home on Broadway closed in approximately 1968, Winklemeyer’s son-in-law, Don Berry opened the Berry Funeral Home at this location. It is unknown what modifications were made to the dwelling at that time. In December of 1990, Rick and Kaleen Summerville moved to Salisbury to manage Berry Funeral Home. They eventually purchased the McFadden Fuemmeler Funeral Home facility on Hwy 24 and moved all operations to that location.
The Chariton County Ambulance District went back to their roots so to speak when they moved into the current location. Emergency services started in Chariton County with the local funeral directors using the company hearse to transport those in need of medical attention to the clinics or a hospital. There was never a crew involved. The director would put the injured on a cot, load them up and take off. There are stories of the hearse having to stop in downtown Brunswick to fill up with fuel with a patient in the back.
In August of 1972, county citizens approved a tax bond to establish the ambulance district and in November of that year the Chariton County Ambulance District Board of Directors was established. The district began its first day of operation on April 1, 1973. In Chariton County two bases were in operation, one located at the City Hall in Brunswick and the other at the Salisbury Police Department. In August of 1996, the Brunswick base relocated to 201 N. Small along with the Volunteer Brunswick Fire Department in an emergency services base. In June of 2002, the Salisbury base relocated to 212 S. Weber in Salisbury in the former Berry Funeral Home facility.
A six-member Board of Directors elected for staggered three-year terms governs CCAD. The Superintendent and the Office Manager manage the day-to-day affairs of the district. County property tax and patient income are the foundation of the operating budget.
With the direction of the Medical Director, CCAD has gone above and beyond the national curriculum for EMT-P’s. With extensive training and monthly quality assurance/quality improvement standards, the personnel are trained in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Basic Trauma Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, CPR, as well as advanced invasive procedures such as Rapid Sequence Intubations, Intraosseous access, End Tidal CO2 monitoring, 12 lead cardiac interpretation and ventilator support.
CCAD has three trucks in the county with 2 in service 24/7. CCAD currently operates one ambulance from the Brunswick base. The Salisbury base maintains two ambulances, the business office, and training center.
The trucks average nearly 35,000 miles per year. There are 6 full time paramedics and EMTs at each base along with a director, one full time and one part time officer personnel. All but one employee of the district is certified as an EMT or paramedic.
A few of the employees based out of Salisbury claim they have met former occupants of the building. Tales of moving objects, unexplained sounds and a general feeling of someone else’s presence are shared amongst employees. With some believing whole heartedly that souls still roam the rooms of the base and some thinking those guys are paranoid, it makes for lively conversation between coworkers and friends.
Clue
Circle around to the west edge of town where once stood a local event center (kind of). It offered a hearty plate, a place to stay and a hall for mixed entertainment.